The goal of the Retrieval and Application of Research in Nursing (RARIN) project is to improve the quality of nursing care by facilitating the transfer of new and clinically relevant nursing information to nursing practice. The project will use existing hospital computer resources and organizational systems to provide practicing nurses with an efficient way to obtain and use state-of-the-art information on patient care practices. The specific objectives of RARIN are: (1) to provide nurses with a method for obtaining literature citations and practice-related abstracts for a requested topic via the nursing unit's computer terminal, (2) to use clinical data to identify common and problematic nursing diagnoses to be used as the basis for computerized literature searches, (30 to develop a data base containing literature citations and practice-related abstracts that is indexed by these nursing diagnoses, and (40 to provide practicing nurses with consultation and support for the implementation of research findings. An experimental study design will be used to evaluate the impact of this project. Eight medical/surgical nursing units will be randomly selected and randomly assigned to either a control group, which will receive no interventions, or the experimental group, which will be provided with nursing unit-based computer access to literature citations and practice-related abstracts, instruction in use of the system, and support for implementation of research-based practice innovations. Using the Meyer and Goes framework for assimilation of innovation (1988), evaluation will examine the impact of the program on nurses' use of research findings in clinical practice. The quality and process of the RARIN program will also be assessed. At the conclusion of funding, the program will be marketed to other health care settings and nursing schools, thereby providing financial support for continuation of this project.